Ninjas in Pyjamas, often abbreviated as NiP, is a European esports organization that was formed in 2000. The organization started as a Counter-Strike team, and became a top contender in the competitive scene for seven years. In 2007, the organization decided it was time to disband and attempt new things. In 2012, with the long awaited release of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the newly inspired NiP organization reformed and created a new roster to compete once again. In May 2013, as part of its reformation, they picked up the previous roster of Copenhagen Wolves to form their first League of Legends team. The League of Legends NiP team is notable for competing in the summer split of the Season 3 European League Championship Series (LCS).

A month later, extinkt would announce his retirement from competitive League of Legends and leave the team. Three days later, his role in the top lane would be filled by Mimer. NiP finished the season strongly, going 13-7 throughout the final seven weeks and finishing in a four-way tie for second at 15-13. After a poor showing at the week 9 tiebreaker, Ninjas in Pyjamas was seeded fifth going into the summer playoffs.

Season 4

Roster Changes

After a disappointing Summer Split, Ninjas in Pyjamas decided to revamp their roster and acquired kev1n and hyrqBot from SK Gaming in September 2013 to replace Mimer and Malunoo. However, in November 2013, NiP changed their roster once again and acquired Zorozero, nukeduck and mithy from LCS runner-up team Lemondogs. Bjergsen moved to North America and joined Team SoloMid while substitute Svenskeren joined SK Gaming. Deficio retired and moved to a managing and coaching position. kev1n was released after just two months without playing an official match with NiP. Freeze was the only remaining member from NiP's Summer Split roster.

Promotion Tournament and Replacement Play-In

Ninjas in Pyjamas chose to face Kiedyś Miałem Team at the Spring Split Promotion Tournament in their match. Although NiP were heavy favorites, Kiedyś Miałem won in a 3-0 clean sweep, and the Ninjas in Pyjamas were denied a spot in the Season 4 Spring Split of the EU LCS.

After Lemondogs were removed from Spring Split for failing to submit satisfactory paperwork in January 2014, Riot created a Play-In tournament at which the winner would claim the vacant spot in the LCS. As the three losing teams of the Promotion Tournament, Ninjas in Pyjamas would have faced off against MeetYourMakers and SUPA HOT CREW; however, after Zorozero could not update his tournament client in time, NiP was disqualified due to being unable to field an eligable roster.

At Promotion Tournament, Ninjas in Pyjamas faced off against 8th placed LCS team Millenium. NiP lost the very close series 2-3 after seven hours, once again not making it into LCS. Around a week later, the roster was released from the organization. Zorozero was rumored to join Counter Logic Gaming after Nien stepped down from the starting lineup, but he decided to go back to school to finish his degree.

Challenger Series Summer Split

A week after releasing their previous lineup, Ninjas in Pyjamas presented a new roster featuring former Gambit Gaming midlaner Alex Ich, who moved to toplane, and former Cloud9 Eclipse jungler k0u. Nukeduck, Freeze and Mithy remained with the organization after their unsuccessful qualification for the EU LCS Summer Split. NiP were automatically qualified for EU CS Summer Series #1 and won their quarterfinal against Unicorns of Love; but on June 2, Nukeduck and Mithy were suspended from LCS and CS for the remainder of the year, and subsequently released from the organization, which was considered a huge blow to Alex Ich's hopes to qualify for LCS.

loulex, Freeze and Voidle left NiP after playoffs. A new roster featuring Cabochard, ImSoFresh, Alex Ich, Jebus and Dioud competed as Ninjas in Pyjamas in various amateur tournaments, however, the new roster was never officially announced by NiP, and they departed from the organization in September. Alex Ich cited broken promises regarding his visa as well as unpaid salaries for his decision. Even though they were planning to join another organization, these plans never came to fruition due to Alex Ich's visa issues, and they disbanded.

2017 Season

After a two and a half year absence from League of Legends, Ninjas in Pyjamas reentered the EU LCS by acquiring the Summer Split spot of Fnatic Academy, who were previously promoted to the league after winning two series against Giants Gaming at the Summer Promotion tournament. Even though Fnatic Academy's roster was considered to be better than NiP's new roster and their players complained about not getting a chance, NiP formed a completely new roster consisting of Profit, Shook, Nagne, HeaQ and sprattel.

After the EU LCS reorganized to a two-group format prior to the spring split, Ninjas in Pyjamas were selected to be in Group A alongside Fnatic, G2 Esports, Misfits Gaming and Team ROCCAT. They started Summer Split in bad form as they could not win a single series in the first seven weeks. In Week 8, after a 0-2 against G2 Esports, NiP finally picked up their first series with a clean 2-0 against Team ROCCAT. Even though NiP upset Fnatic in Week 10, this was only the second series they won, and they finished the regular season in fifth and last place of Group B with a 2-11 record.

As the last placed team of their group, Ninjas in Pyjamas faced demotion from LCS in the 2018 Spring Promotion tournament. NiP lost their first series against Giants Gaming 1-3 and moved on to the lower bracket, where they swept fellow LCS squad Mysterious Monkeys 3-0. After NiP were destroyed in the deciding match against FC Schalke 04 Esports, they were relegated from EU LCS after only one split. NiP eventually released their roster in October.

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